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“Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life” – this is a quote attributed to Mark Twain, Confucius and several others. While it is not at all times financially rewarding, this path often leads to the next level satisfaction with work and life.
But how exactly do you discover your area of interest in the market? How to turn hot passion into cold, hard money? Read on to discover six ways to turn your hobby into a area of interest market.
Disclaimer: While turning a hobby into a job may seem to be a dream come true, it also comes with one major challenge – your hobby becomes your day job. This dilemma is as old as time, and the only correct answer is the one you end up. So, before you delve into the intricacies of a hobby-turned-job, consider whether you are ready to surrender one of your places of escapism.
1. Link your interests to the market
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Before you discover your area of interest, you wish to understand your passions. What do you do with your free time? Is it a sport? Is this a game? Is it music, handicrafts, or something more area of interest, like horse riding as a hobby?
Many questions are asked before entering the market. Is there demand? What is the market liquidity and volume? Who are the primary players? Is there an unfilled area of interest? And if so, is there a reason it is still empty?
Sometimes there is an empty area of interest because people have not found a solution yet. And sometimes it’s empty because people tried and failed.
Opening a coffee shop near a busy business hub can be more profitable than organising a mortuary near Disneyland. Still, your unique circumstances will not be so clear-cut. So do not be the thousandth tombstone in the graveyard of failed ideas and do your research before you jump into the market.
2. Know your skills
You could be the best archer this side of the world, but you possibly can’t make money just by being a guy with pointy sticks. Therefore, you wish to understand what other skills you have which you could apply to your passion.
For example, if you are particularly good with words, you would possibly want to start writing or recording an archery blog. Alternatively, if you know how to use tools, you possibly can make your own bows and sell them to other archers. Are you more interested in logistics? Find suppliers and sell bows and other equipment. Do you have teaching experience? Teach others how to use bows and arrows. There are loads of money-making opportunities for every interest.
3. Rely on your own experience
Since you may be pursuing your own hobby, rely on your experience to discover unique issues your target market could also be experiencing. It’s easier for you to understand your target market’s problems because you are your own target market.
After all, who else knows more about the intricacies of old-school movies than you? Who else could convey the authentic experience of playing handball? Who would even dare query your passion for Excel spreadsheets? You know what you would like and are best able to tap into the mood of your target market, so your own experience can be the place to begin.
4. Create a unique value proposition
If you have been involved in marketing, you know that your unique value proposition (UVP) is crucial to growing your brand. Don’t confuse this with your slogan or mission statement – these will come later. Focus on what you possibly can offer your customers and how it differs from others.
Since you have done your homework and know your audience best (since you are the target market), this could assist you gain UVP.
5. Grow your community
Like 92% of consumers rely on word of mouth as an alternative of ads, it is easy to see why building a community around your product or company is necessary.
In addition to becoming a household name in your area of interest, building a community around your business helps maintain a positive fame and good customer relationships.
Satisfied customers generate more word-of-mouth referrals, which significantly reduces customer acquisition costs. Moreover, if you create a dedicated forum, subreddit or social media page, your devoted fans will have the option to create content for you. In marketing, we call this user-generated content (UGC) and 85% of consumers they consider it has more impact than brand content.
Consider how much fan art there is of characters from Game of Thrones, SpongeBob, and The Office. Nobody paid them, but they did it anyway because they loved the characters and the series so much. If you get your fans to love your product, you possibly can generate ChatGPT-level buzz, albeit on a smaller scale.
Additionally, dedicated fans are at all times more open to purchasing ancillary products equivalent to accessories, limited edition products and merchandise, so you possibly can generate a regular stream of additional revenue with relatively little effort.
6. Learn from your competitors
Opening a business is only half the battle. Maintaining a business is much tougher. 31.4% of firms are closing during the first two years opening and 48.9% at the end of the fifth 12 months.
The best way to stay in business is to learn from the best. After all, leading brands are at the top for a reason – they clearly did something right. Try to reverse their success and recreate its most influential elements. Fix their mistakes if you notice them and you can be well on your way to business success.
Another necessary thing to remember is that leading brands may simply succeed because they were the first to market. You’ll have an uphill battle with knowledge, but sometimes a product is just that good and you wish to learn its secrets.